LESS than five per cent of staff at South Dublin County Council are aged 30 or under – leaving the local authority in dire need of fresh ideas and an infusion of youth, according to Independent Councillor Dermot Looney.

Cllr Looney feels there is an “age issue” at SDCC after receiving “worrying statistics” from a question he asked at Monday’s county council meeting.

Current figures show almost three quarters of SDCC staff are over 40, and over 44 per cent of staff are aged 51 or over.

However, less than five per cent of council staff are aged 30 or under, whilst only 0.58 per cent are aged 25 or under.

Cllr Looney said: "There are lots of hardworking innovative staff in SDCC but like any large organisation, fresh ideas and younger people are vital to progress.”

SDCC say their age profile has reduced from an average age of 53 years in 2013, to a current average age of 47 years.

A council spokesman said: “However there has been a reduction in proportion of staff who are under 40 years, from 31 per cent to 26 per cent between 2013 and 2016, and an increase in the proportion of staff who are over 60 years from 10.5 per cent in Q4/2013 to 12.8 per cent in Q4/2016.”

Cllr Looney believes the age issue is a result of a “recruitment embargo brought in in the wake of the financial crash.”

He continued: “This has ensured that the staff remains older with very few young people being hired. Our council's staff are, in general, hard-working and innovative, but we need to expand the workforce to include more young people.”

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